Ananz of the Mellekor!verse exploring a different power dynamic in Teachers and Heroes, set sometime during Act 2. Spoilers for the starting state of the Inquisitor's Act 2. 800 words.

Spoiler

"Marvelous! That was perfect!"

Ananz would probably never get used to Lord Zash's bubbly exclamations coming from Khem Val's hulking form. Nevertheless, he noted the feedback as he walked through the fine-control Force exercises. He had been working furiously since the day he walked into her office on Korriban to learn – to learn everything, history, politics, protocol, combat, Force theory, Force applications, so much more – and it was useful to have someone who, while she had her own agenda, was at least enthusiastic company in guiding him through the material that she considered indispensable. There was so much he would be able to do once he mastered this.

"Next, the glass," said Zash. "Remember, broaden your focus ever so slightly to hold it in parallel with the floor. You're lifting it with a flat sheet of Force energy, not just a grab."

The Twi'lek nodded acknowledgement and turned his attention to the filled tumbler on the desk across his office from where he stood. "Up," he said, only spilling a little bit when he overshot his desired altitude, "then in."

"Steady. That's it. And you're not jumping when I start talking, good. There are usually distractions when you're trying to get work done, so you'd better get used to it. – Wonderful!" He took hold of the tumbler, letting his Force concentration dissipate as his hand took hold.

He raised his glass to her, then took a sip of the rich burning liquid. He swallowed it down and offered her the rest of the glass. "Here. For the most unusual woman I've ever known." These days he could afford to feign friendliness with her when he felt like it.

Zash's red Dashade eyes rolled. "You're incorrigible," she said. "I'm not going to drink this. If I get even a little tipsy I think your monster's going to gain the upper hand."

That was the point. "Well, maybe he'd enjoy the rest of it."

"I'm truly surprised that you're as fond of him as you are. You always struck me as being quite civilized."

Ananz shrugged. "We humble servants have to stick together." He liked Khem Val's power and ferocity. The notion of a once-slave so hungry and vicious as to frighten Lords and Darths appealed to him. It took more than chains to keep some people down.

Lord Zash still wasn't taking the proffered tumbler, so Ananz drained it and sent it sailing back to settle gracefully on the desk. "Well then. What's next?"

"I thought we might call a break there and let you get back to your other studies. We've been at this for a while, you mustn't wear yourself out."

"Oh," he drawled, prompted by a mischievous impulse, "I could go for a while longer." He grinned and leaned in to lay a fingertip high on her broad lukewarm breastbone, trailing down a few inches. He tilted his head, suddenly curious. "Can you even feel this?" He wasn't sure of the extent of Zash's integration into her host body.

Zash swatted his hand aside. "Don't do that. I'm still your master, technically. You should show a little respect."

'Master' was a sensitive term, but it was a joke by now. All their interactions outside lessons were, which suited him very well. "You're only my master when I can hear you over Khem."

"Khem wouldn't put up with being harassed, either," she said shrilly, and folded her arms to protect her chest. "You weren't nearly this cheeky when I had my own body."

Yes, her body. The body of the last person to light up with some private glee while picking him out of a group of tools or toys. Dead now. "When you had your own body you could Force Shock me to death for misbehaving. Now–" he lifted a hand and, with a little burst of effort, flicked a spark across his fingertips – "things are different. But, for what it's worth…" He grinned, with teeth, and patted her beefy arm. "I think you are exactly as beautiful now as you were the day we met." The vain git.

Zash swatted his hand away again and somehow, with the features of a Dashade, managed to make an even more sour face. "Today's lesson is over," she fumed. "I hope you enjoyed yourself."

"I'll put it to good use." He sobered. There was so much to do, so much to learn. He had to find out enough to win independence from this poisonous bond before she did, and that necessity was only barely in the top ten threats to his life these days. She knew full well she had to help him against all the other ones. And so they cooperated…more or less. "Thank you for the lesson," he added. "I'll be in my quarters studying if anyone needs me."

"Good," she said. "I'll let you know if my research turns up anything interesting."

"Marvelous," he said dryly. "That sounds perfect."

Spoiler

This is a far-flung data point compared to the single one we (I include myself in that) have on Ananz. Context is everything. In the matter of payback and role reversal, Ananz is...not a gracious man.

Zash is cordial to the Inquisitor, but right from the start she is cordial in a way that says "I think you're useful and you will provide a return on my investment." It can be easy to resent her. She's set up to be more sympathetic than Harkun…but that doesn't actually buy you much.

The 'poisonous bond' is technically Khem and Zash's problem, not Ananz's, but Ananz is squarely on Team Khem for the struggle.

Week of 1/25/2013Legacy - suggested by the lovely Vesaniae. Legacy is an important part of the game, and a running theme throughout several of the stories. Is your character a part of a particular legacy, be it of family or ideology? What does your character want to leave behind when they're gone?Backfired Plans - ported from the AU thread. No good deed goes unpunished, and sometimes blessings come in disguise. What if something meant for good had bad effects, or vice versa?

Born on Coruscant from a reasonably wealthy family of traders, she was accepted into jedi training early in her life. Throughout her training, she proved to be a powerful force user, gaining the attention of the council. However, although she always followed the jedi code, she always felt as if something was missing until she fell in love and, later, gave birth to two daughters, Xania and Lilith. The council did not accept her children, fearing her bond to them and thus decided that she was to let her daughters be adopted.

She complied but, after that, she was never the same. Feeling betrayed by both her former master, whom she considered as a friend, and the council, she decided to leave Tython and Coruscant behind to live on an undisclosed planet, seeking answers and, possibly, solace, on her own.
She never revealed who the father of her children was and his identity was cause for much speculation and rumours.

She is about 5'8" with auburn hair and dark green eyes.

Lilith (IA – Sniper)

Spoiler

Document Clearance Level: For your eyes only – destroy after reading
ID: Cypher Nine
Real Name: CONFIDENTIAL
Current Location: UNKNOWN
Current Affiliation: UNKNOWN
CO: CONFIDENTIAL
Threat Level: HIGH
Bio:
Having grown up on Alderaan within a minor noble house, she led an easy life although she was exposed to the political intrigue of the ruling houses. This, coupled with her curious nature, was behind her decision to join the imperial academy, wanting “to get away from the continuous backstabbing and hypocrisy”. - Quoted from preliminary interview -

During her career as an imperial officer, she showed a firm understanding of rules of engagement and remarkable skill as a marksman. She was later recommended for cypher training.

It is believed that she was involved in the Jadus incident and she may have been contacted by the SiS.
She does not know the true identity of her parents nor that she has a sister although it is believed that she may have hacked imperial and republic databases. The exact result of such searches is not currently known but monitoring is ongoing. Information gathered from sleeper cells led us to believe that she may be searching for data related to her birth.

Intelligence has been aware of the identity of her mother for some time. However, no trace of her father has been found and all searches led to dead ends. A possible connection to the Sith is not to be excluded – tread lightly.

Currently she is involved with a joiner, former ambassador of the Empire to the Killik race by the name of Vector Hyllus and a former Agent known as Doctor Lokin. Being an experienced operative, he could allow Cypher Nine to access a large amount of confidential data. Other members of her crew are of no consequence.

Physical Appearance:
She is 5'10'' with distinctive white hair and grey/blue eyes.
The cause of the lack of pigmentation in her hair is not known although she is neither old nor albino. It is believed that such trait may have been caused by force sensitivity on the mother' side. Despite her mother being a force user, she has not shown any force sensitivity so far.

Recommendation: She is armed and highly trained. Do not approach under any circumstance as she may go under should she discover any attempt of capture or monitoring.

Update: A few months ago, she survived an assassination attempt. The assassin is of unknown origin. It is believed that such action may have been triggered by the discovery of important information. Whoever ordered such attack, covered the tracks.

Xania (Inquisitor – Assassin)

Spoiler

She was raised on Dantooine by a common family of traders. Her childhood was peaceful and mostly uneventful until the age of 16, when the transport owned by her foster parents was attacked by slavers and she was captured and brought to work as a slave for the Hutt cartel.

During the period of two years, she worked in gas mines and she saw her foster parents die as a result of the miserable conditions. This led her to become increasingly reserved while, at the same time, harboring an ever increasing anger which erupted the day she felt the Force for the first time. As a result, she escaped the slave camp, killing any who would stand in her way.

Such actions caught the attention of the Sith Academy and she was brought there to study.

She is a soft spoken person, who prefers playing her part from behind the curtain although her rage may erupt whenever she feels vexed or threatened. She is not someone who willingly discloses anything of her past or of herself, constantly wearing her inner iron curtain. Anyone trying to pierce that veil, triggers her defence mechanisms.

She does not know who her real parents are nor that she has a sister and she does not care. Her only concern is to stay ahead of her enemies.

She is rather tall at almost 6' and she has auburn hair green eyes, just like her real mother, that are now red due to the corruption of the dark side which has also turned her skin pale and darkened the area around her eyes. Some may describe her as hauntingly attractive but careful not to burn yourself, like a moth to a flame.

The green skinned twi’lek walked through the crowded streets of Hutta, trying to be as quick and unnoticeable as possible. She hated this part of the day, the five kilometer long walk from work to home. It forced her to walk among total strangers…

She cautiously observed every passing being, trying to estimate how many weapons they were carrying. Everyone was a potential ******, robber or murderer, on Hutta that was more likely than not! And a lone twi’lek woman would be their most likely target… However, it wasn’t the possibility of being beaten, robbed or even raped that caused her to be this paranoid. To her the scum and thugs she walked amongst seemed less scary than newborn Wampas when compared to him. No, it was the thought that one of these low lives might actually be one of his agents in disguise that made her lekkus vibrate.

The grim realization of how much she actually feared him now filled her with an unbearable sorrow… How could he do this to her? There had been a time when, NO! She could not afford to become weak now! She had no choice but tend to reality, letting down her guard could cause her to get caught again, for all in the world she couldn’t come into his possession again!
Korriban and the loss of his cousin had changed him, she couldn’t trust him anymore. Back then he had said that he loved her, and he had loved her… Then a few weeks later, he’d enslaved, tortured and humiliated her…

Why?

She lifted her hand to her left cheek. She felt the outline of the hated words, which he’d forever burned into her skin: “Slave, property of Ragnos.” She fought to hold the tears back and kept going.

When he’d been able to do this to her now, then what would he do if he realized she was pregnant with his child?

The thought filled Elish’ron with dread.

Thulan Ragnos

The irregular blue stripes of hyperspace started dissolving, and soon the green/blue planet of Alderaan came into view.

2K-92 started a long monolog about when they would approximately land, Thulan didn’t listen.

He was preparing himself for deceiving the jedi padawan Niktoid and his famous jedi master Rasheke, or at least he that is what he would’ve told anyone who’d asked… In reality he was thinking of Elish… Of her blue eyes, her silly smile, her cheery laugh and those loving gazes she had used to send him. Luckily he was wearing a mask... Had the sith seen his own saddened expression mirrored in the view screen, he might’ve been so frustrated with himself, that he’d send a force wave into it, and subsequently get sucked into space by the certain pressure difference.

He didn’t want to admit it, but the latest development regarding her second escape was troubling him. It wasn’t the fact that she’d tried fleeing again that bothered him – at least that was fully understandable. - No, it was the fact that her behavior had caught the attention of Imperial Intelligence. What had she been thinking! Stealing the spaceship of an imperial agent, when had she become so careless and arrogant?

Thulan closed his eyes and leaned back in his pilot chair, forming a pyramid with his fingers, a gesture he often did when attempting to gather his thoughts.

She made him look weak, and the last living heir or Ragnos couldn’t afford looking weak.

According to the chiss agent, whose ship Elish had stolen, word of Elish having escaped him two times hadn’t gotten out yet. However, the agent had suggested that this time he punished his slave more efficiently to discipline her… Thulan hated to admit it, but Elish had forced his hand. When she was returned to his possession he would have to punish her severely…

Thulan unconsciously opened himself to the force while considering the different possibilities. He’d tried almost everything in his power to discipline her: Torture, shock collar, beating, force domination, the threat of having others suffer in her place… Seemingly none of these options had worked. Perhaps he had to sustain the pain for longer periods of time or make it more intensifying… No, the thought of putting his Elish through that again made him dizzy… Then again, perhaps that was the problem. He cared too much for her, was too weak. He couldn’t shape her into a good slave unless he first got his emotions under control. Then again, did he have to be the one training her?

For a moment he considered an alternative solution, perhaps he should send her into a work camp for a few months. When she came back she would realize just how well he was treating her!

Suddenly he heard a low scream of pain, followed by exhausted gasps. It sounded like a wounded animals, forced to flee from hungry predators despite the fact that it was completely drained of energy. Subsequently, the screams and gasps were followed by a snapping sound that caused another scream… For a while it just continued:

Soon pictures started taking form and a scenario started forming in front of Thulan, or rather inside his mind.

Elish and two men were chained to a huge bolder like animals. Beside the bolder stood a tall man with and whip in his right hand. The man yelled at the slaves, telling them to “stop being so lazy, you bathas!” The men kept pulling… Elish, however, kept crashing on the dirty ground. Thulan could see that she was completely drained; she’d never been physically strong. The big mountain of a man started focusing all his yelling at her telling her that she was “a spoiled little sex-toy and that if she didn’t get the **** up, he would teach her not to bloody mess with him!”

To Thulan’s horror he could see her trying to get up, but fall to the ground again as the bastard planted his boot between her ribs. Thulan heard the cracking sound of breaking bones, saw her fall and vomit blood… Then came the worst part. The bastard started swinging the whip; it hit Elish and left yet another scar on her once smooth back. She screamed and then started gasping and occasionally coughing up blood. Then bastard started yelling again. Elish begged… Then the snap came, followed by the screams and gasps.

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The statements and opinions expressed on these websites are solely those of their respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views, nor are they endorsed by Bioware, LucasArts, and its licensors do not guarantee the accuracy of, and are in no way responsible for any content on these websites.